The chart-topping singer has revealed he made a conscious decision to make a record that vaguely resembled the sound of Daryl Hall and John Oates, the American musical pair from Philadelphia.

He recalled: ''It was summer. I was just about to go on tour with my buddy Shawn Mendes, and I put on Hall & Oates ... and I was like, 'Okay, I wanna make a record like that.'''

In a bid to realise his ambition, Charlie called one of his A&R friends, saying: ''Wouldn't it be cool, like if there was a song called 'How Long Has This Been Going On?' and each kick drum would be on the lyric?''

The 26-year-old star then recalled the recording process.

Speaking to Billboard, Charlie shared: ''I had one broken Rokit speaker to produce this record on.

''Every night after I would get off stage, I'd just kind of build the track out even more and I still wanted it to be like, thematically with a bass. My bass player Dmitry came in and he had this sick preamp and he plugged it in and it sounded bouncy ... like me walking with a big cup of coffee down the street. Like Fat Albert or Mickey Mouse when he drops the piano.''